Some Important Folks Share Their Favorite PS2 Games

[Weekend_Warrior]

I wish some people would stop bashing the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series and realize how great it is for kids today to learn about rock music. In a day and age where synthesized pop and rap music has taken over the radio and the industry, it's great to see a kid today pickup a guitar (plastic or not) and rock out to some AC/DC or Metallica while learning basic music structure like timing, chord progression & vocals

At its core, It's helping to get a lot of people interested in rock music again. Especially those who may have otherwise never shown an interest in that type of music. And that's truly a great thing!

[Limewater]

I wish some people would stop bashing the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series and realize how great it is for kids today to learn about rock music.

I don't think anyone on this thread has really bashed either game. It's just funny in the article to see game developers say that Guitar Hero is one of their favorite PS2 games for reasons that are simply wrong.

*EDIT* OK, I guess CRTGAMER did bash it a little.

[J T]

I can play real musical instruments and I love Guitar Hero games. I feel like I have to defend myself every time I say that. It did get massively overkilled though.

[J T]

This article was an interesting read. Apparently I need to find a copy of Way of the Samurai, Dark Cloud 2, and The Thing.

I liked that some of the developers picked hidden gem games such as Culdcept and Gitaroo Man.

[Ack]

I wish some people would stop bashing the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series and realize how great it is for kids today to learn about rock music. In a day and age where synthesized pop and rap music has taken over the radio and the industry, it's great to see a kid today pickup a guitar (plastic or not) and rock out to some AC/DC or Metallica while learning basic music structure like timing, chord progression & vocals

At its core, It's helping to get a lot of people interested in rock music again. Especially those who may have otherwise never shown an interest in that type of music. And that's truly a great thing!

Sure, but I don't think you realize we weren't bashing the game, we were bashing the developers for what they said about the game, specifically that it started that genre. It didn't. Guitar Freaks started that subgenre of rhythm games in 1999. Guitar Hero didn't see release until 2005. Rhythm games in general started in 1996 with PaRappa the Rapper, if I remember correctly.

[CRTGAMER]

Apologies to Guitar Hero fans. Its just overkill with no variety, of too much of the same.

Fuel for the fire of non-innovative new releases:

PS2 - Shelf space of the few new game releases are overwhelmed by Guitar and Rockband games.
Dreamcast - I like shumps but come on, something else to surprise us?
PS3 and XBox - Oh boy, another FPS. Well maybe now we'll see too much mii too motion.

Apologies also to OP for getting off Topic. Thanks for the link, another reference tool in search of a good variety of PS2 games!

[saturnfan]

I wish some people would stop bashing the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series and realize how great it is for kids today to learn about rock music. In a day and age where synthesized pop and rap music has taken over the radio and the industry, it's great to see a kid today pickup a guitar (plastic or not) and rock out to some AC/DC or Metallica while learning basic music structure like timing, chord progression & vocals

At its core, It's helping to get a lot of people interested in rock music again. Especially those who may have otherwise never shown an interest in that type of music. And that's truly a great thing!

Sure, but I don't think you realize we weren't bashing the game, we were bashing the developers for what they said about the game, specifically that it started that genre. It didn't. Guitar Freaks started that subgenre of rhythm games in 1999. Guitar Hero didn't see release until 2005. Rhythm games in general started in 1996 with PaRappa the Rapper, if I remember correctly.

Lets be realistic here, Guitar Hero took a very obscure game genre and brought it into the spot light, basically creating a new genera of games. Was it the "first" music instrument game? No. But it is the first one anyone really cared about. When someone gets mad that guitar freaks or parappa are not getting their due credit, I think of the kid in the back of class room that shouts "Lief Erickson" every Columbus day.

[Ack]

I wish some people would stop bashing the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series and realize how great it is for kids today to learn about rock music. In a day and age where synthesized pop and rap music has taken over the radio and the industry, it's great to see a kid today pickup a guitar (plastic or not) and rock out to some AC/DC or Metallica while learning basic music structure like timing, chord progression & vocals

At its core, It's helping to get a lot of people interested in rock music again. Especially those who may have otherwise never shown an interest in that type of music. And that's truly a great thing!

Sure, but I don't think you realize we weren't bashing the game, we were bashing the developers for what they said about the game, specifically that it started that genre. It didn't. Guitar Freaks started that subgenre of rhythm games in 1999. Guitar Hero didn't see release until 2005. Rhythm games in general started in 1996 with PaRappa the Rapper, if I remember correctly.

Lets be realistic here, Guitar Hero took a very obscure game genre and brought it into the spot light, basically creating a new genera of games. Was it the "first" music instrument game? No. But it is the first one anyone really cared about. When someone gets mad that guitar freaks or parappa are not getting their due credit, I think of the kid in the back of class room that shouts "Lief Erickson" every Columbus day.

It's not really that obscure, and having checked, Beatmania actually came before Guitar Freaks in 1997, so really instrument-based music games started nearly a full decade before Guitar Hero...if you consider turntables to be instruments.

What bothers me so much about it though is A). it shows they're ignorant of the genre. Sure, I realize they don't have to know everything about every game, but a little research before making such a statement goes a long way. And B). public ignorance is not something I have ever felt should be gone along with. We're in the business of retro games here, and part of that hobby includes getting the history of gaming straight. I'd like to see titles like Guitar Freaks, Beatmania, and PaRappa the Rapper get the attention they rightfully deserve. To deny their place in history denies their existence, and let's face it, PaRappa's too entertaining to give up.

Admittedly I'm also one of those people that thinks about Lief Erickson every Columbus Day.

[GSZX1337]

Admittedly I'm also one of those people that thinks about Lief Erickson every Columbus Day.

Happy Leif Erikson Day!

[Gamerforlife]

I'm also happy to see the love for Ico. Ico influenced more games than I think people realize. Prince of Persia, Metal Gear Solid 2, and others I've heard have taken some inspiration from Ico